Reviews with content warning for War - Our Violent Ends

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Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

99 reviews

lainiereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

okay i will just die now thank u

100/100 stars perfect book love u miss chloe

after reflecting i’m definitely adding this to my tops 10 books, but it is honestly in my top 3 books right now, i am in love

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padme's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wow, what a sequel!!

Once again, I was planning on giving this four stars just because there were a few elements I didn't like

I didn't like Rosalind's storyline, especially since it was held back for so long as a dramatic reveal so we didn't get a lot of insight into how involved she was and why she did what she did. I also thought Dimitri was a pretty weak villain, and we didn't get much insight into why he was doing what he was doing, other than that he was a bad guy. I felt like the book was weakened somewhat by trying to paint Rosalind as a villain of some kind while also removing her agency in the situation, implying that it was all because of Dimitri that she did what she did. I think the book MIGHT have been better served giving Dimitri a POV and giving Rosalind some more focus up front, and then painting their story as a parallel to Roma and Juliette's. It would have eliminated some big reveals later on, but it would have made the first half of the book more investing and would have given the two villains more motivation later on

.

However, I have to give this a 4.5 stars just because of how well the ending played. Chloe Gong knows how to stick a landing! The epilogue genuinely made me cry, and I wasn't expecting it to.

Overall, it was a really incredible read, and I can't wait to see what Chloe Gong writes next! Such an interesting world, so many cool characters, and such a great way to adapt an old story.

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mayareadsxo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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hockeysophie28's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

After the conclusion of These Violent Delights, there were a lot of questions lingering in my mind, about the characters, the story, and their connections to each other. This book answered these questions in a way that was just right.

The already-developed characters were developed even further, and I really enjoyed getting to see Roma and Juliette grow and change as they try to navigate the dangers of the world around them and the confusion of their relationship and exactly how they feel about one another. I found myself on the edge of my seat wondering if the two would find each other again or if Roma would never be able to get over his new hatred of Juliette.

The other relationships (platonic, enemies, and otherwise) in the story were very fleshed-out and fun to read. My personal favourites to read were the dynamics of Juliette and Tyler, Benedikt and Roma, and

Marshall and Benedikt

. They were all so interesting to read and watch grow/develop.

The side characters were dynamic and interesting as well, with some chapters even diving into their perspective on things to really flesh out their personality and the story as a whole. Kathleen

aka Celia

was already a character I had interest in in the first book and this just solidified that for me.

When developing such captivating and interesting characters, the plot can tend to be less interesting or less powerful. However, the author did not do this. The plot of the book was exciting and suspenseful, and I would find myself not wanting to put it down.

The only criticisms I have of this book is that certain scenes just seemed either too long or not long enough, and that the ending (though quite impactful) could have been a bit better.

Overall, I loved this book so much, a thrilling conclusion to an incredibly great series.

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devynry's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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rebeccaxpaige's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book will have you on the edge of your seat no doubt. Here you have a sequel that is shocking, humourous and in its foundation, political. I do not want to reveal too much but Gong has successfully crafted the most complex and riveting characters. Juliette is wise, cutthroat and embodies a much more empowered version of her original character written by Shakespeare. Though she is wise, she is also flawed— which makes her loveable. She is unfairly torn between two political forces: loyalty or betrayal. Roma is another complex character who pales in comparison to his sister, Alisa who is not a central plot device by any means; but she proves herself to be a hero in her own right in this mind boggling, emotionally distressing (in the best way possible) young adult masterpiece.

I will not say anything else other than if you want to see what real women are made of, you must read this book. 5 of the easiest stars I gave this year.

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jmusil44's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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beccas_bibliophilia's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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azrah786's review against another edition

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4.25

[This full review can also be found on my BLOG]

CW: violence, gun violence, blood, gore, mass shooting, murder, injury, death, kidnapping, torture, whipping, suicidal thoughts, war themes, parental abuse, police brutality

Our Violent Ends, where the “our” is really the reader because after finishing this I was so NOT okay!

This sequel continues a couple of months after the end of These Violent Delights with Shanghai on the brink of revolution. The blood feud is back in full force, especially with Roma seeing red after Juliette’s betrayal, which is not helping the situation in the slightest. Meanwhile Juliette is trying to tiptoe her way around her own secrets to save her neck as well as Roma’s. However, when the dreaded monster madness threat resurfaces Roma and Juliette are forced to once again come to a truce and combine forces to save their beloved city.

“Maybe it was inevitable in a city like this. Each and every one of them, taking on a path of destruction, even if they knew better, even if they would warn someone else off it.”

Chloe Gong's remarkable prose both immerses you right back into the setting, the city once again acting as a character itself, and perfectly captures the various tensions that can be found in its streets.

Much like the first book Gong has masterfully merged the classic story with the real world history of Shanghai, the political side to the storyline in particular taking centre stage. Plus with some of the primary plot from the play already having been mirrored in book 1 the retelling side is a little looser. However, I still had that constant anticipation for what events from the original were going to be rewritten and stumbling across cleverly utilised Shakespeare quotes made it all the more enjoyable.

“A rose is a rose, even by another name,” he whispered. “But we choose whether we will offer beauty to the world, or if we will use our thorns to sting.”

As ever the characters own my heart. The interactions between Roma and Juliette were as you would expect like a dagger in the heart, full of even more angst than before and I loved every second of it. I will admit I did spend a lot of time just wanting to jump into the book myself to knock some sense into the two of them and mainly yell at him to admit that HE LOVES HER and at her to acknowledge that HE’LL UNDERSTAND if she comes clean!!!

What I also really enjoyed was that there was a bigger spotlight on Kathleen, Rosalind, Benedict, Marshall and even Alisa which added so much more to the narrative! It has made me all the more excited for Foul Lady Fortune, the first book in the spin off duology releasing later in 2022!

“Sometimes hatred has no memory to feed off. It has grown strong enough to feed itself, and so long as we do not fight it, it will not bother us. It will not weaken us.”

All that aside I think I fall into the minority group of those who really enjoyed this book but didn’t love it as much as the first one (hence my slightly lower rating). The main reasons being the pacing and that I guessed a lot of the twists.. The book had a little bit of a slow start – despite there being some actiony scenes in the beginning which were great - and then when the political side of the plot really kicked off it got much more explosive and interesting but I also felt that the amount of focus on this made the monster part of the story seem a little overlooked? Not that this was a bad thing just there was SO MUCH going on!

Furthermore, I was reading this at an off time for me personally (it’s why I didn’t get through the ARC in time) so I think my mood definitely had an impact on my overall enjoyment but like I mentioned before this book was fantastic and I really didn’t want it to end.

Speaking of which, bittersweet though it was I don’t think we could have asked for a more perfect conclusion to this duology. I look forward to my heart being broken again in the next adventure Chloe Gong has in store for us.
Final Rating – 4.25/5 Stars

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